अंतर (antar)

noun Mainly means 'difference' between two things; also has a literary/spatial sense of 'gap, distance, interval' and shows up as an inseparable prefix meaning 'inner' or 'between' in compound words.
Sense 1 : difference, distinction
noun, masculine
Synonyms: फ़र्क़ (farq), भेद (bhed, slightly more formal), असमानता (asmaantaa, formal)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You will hear this constantly in classrooms and debates: 'इन दोनों में क्या अंतर है (in donon men kyaa antar hai, 'what is the difference between these two')?' is a stock teacher's question in Hindi-medium schools across Delhi-NCR.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often reach for फ़र्क़ (farq) in speech and अंतर (antar) in writing without realizing both are common in everyday conversation -- अंतर (antar) is not restricted to formal contexts, it is just slightly more common in writing and explanations. 2) The construction 'the difference between X and Y' uses X (aur) Y में अंतर (men antar), with में (men) marking 'between,' not किसी और postposition a learner might guess from English 'between.'
Sample Sentences:
इन दोनों में क्या अंतर है? What is the difference between these two?
(in donon men kyaa antar hai?)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
मुझे इन दोनों शब्दों में कोई अंतर नहीं समझ आता। I don't understand any difference between these two words.
(mujhe in donon shabdon men koii antar nahiin samajh aataa।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
टीचर ने ब्लैकबोर्ड पर दोनों वाक्यों का अंतर समझाया। The teacher explained the difference between the two sentences on the blackboard.
(tiichar ne blaikbord par donon vaakyon kaa antar samjhaayaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
अगर तुम ध्यान से पढ़ोगे तो अंतर साफ़ दिखेगा। If you read carefully, the difference will be clearly visible.
(agar tum dhyaan se padhoge to antar saaf dikhegaa।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Active
दोनों प्रोडक्ट्स की क्वालिटी में ज़मीन-आसमान का अंतर है। There's a world of difference in the quality of the two products.
(donon prodakts kii kvaalitii men zamiin-aasmaan kaa antar hai।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
कृपया दोनों नीतियों के बीच का अंतर स्पष्ट करें। Please clarify the distinction between the two policies.
(kripyaa donon niitiyon ke biich kaa antar spasht karen।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
अगर उसने पहले ही अंतर बता दिया होता, तो हम गलती नहीं करते। If he had pointed out the difference earlier, we wouldn't have made the mistake.
(agar usne pahle hii antar bataa diyaa hotaa, to ham galtii nahiin karte।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Perfective -- Voice: Active
परीक्षा में दोनों उत्तरों के अंतर पर पूरे पाँच अंक होते हैं। In the exam, a full five marks are given for the difference between the two answers.
(pariikshaa men donon uttron ke antar par poore paanch ank hote hain।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
शायद उम्र का अंतर ही उनकी सोच अलग बनाता हो। Perhaps it is the difference in age that makes their thinking different.
(shaayad umr kaa antar hii unkii soch alag banaataa ho।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
रिपोर्ट में दोनों आँकड़ों का अंतर स्पष्ट रूप से दिखाया गया है। The difference between the two figures has been clearly shown in the report.
(riport men donon aankdon kaa antar spasht roop se dikhaayaa gayaa hai।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Passive
इस अनुवाद और मूल पाठ में ज़मीन-आसमान का अंतर है। There's a world of difference between this translation and the original text.
(is anuvaad aur mool paath men zamiin-aasmaan kaa antar hai।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
Sense 2 : gap, interval, distance (spatial or temporal)
noun, masculine
Synonyms: फ़ासला (faaslaa), दूरी (doorii), व्यवधान (vyavdhaan, literary)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This sense shows up in phrases like समय के अंतर से (samay ke antar se, 'with a gap of time') and is common in news reports about elections held 'थोड़े अंतर से (thode antar se, 'by a small margin')' -- so it bridges into the idea of a margin of victory too.
Sample Sentences:
दोनों पेड़ों के बीच पाँच मीटर का अंतर है। There is a gap of five meters between the two trees.
(donon pedon ke biich paanch miitar kaa antar hai।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
दोनों बसों के आने में आधे घंटे का अंतर था। There was a gap of half an hour between the arrivals of the two buses.
(donon bason ke aane men aadhe ghante kaa antar thaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
उम्मीदवार ने बहुत थोड़े अंतर से चुनाव जीता। The candidate won the election by a very small margin.
(ummiidvaar ne bahut thode antar se chunaav jiitaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
अगली बैठक कुछ दिनों के अंतर से रखी जाएगी। The next meeting will be held with a gap of a few days.
(aglii baithak kuchh dinon ke antar se rakhii jaaegii।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Passive
कृपया दोनों कुर्सियों के बीच थोड़ा अंतर रखिए। Please leave a little gap between the two chairs.
(kripyaa donon kursiyon ke biich thodaa antar rakhie।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
यदि दोनों टीमों के अंक में इतना अंतर न होता तो मुकाबला दिलचस्प होता। If there hadn't been such a gap in the two teams' scores, the match would have been interesting.
(yadi donon tiimon ke ank men itnaa antar n hotaa to mukaablaa dilchasp hotaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Habitual -- Voice: Active
समय के अंतर से भेजे गए दोनों संदेश अलग-अलग असर छोड़ते हैं। The two messages, sent with a gap in time, leave different impressions.
(samay ke antar se bheje gae donon sandesh alag-alag asar chhodte hain।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Passive
शायद परिणामों में कुछ अंतर रह जाए। Perhaps some gap will remain in the results.
(shaayad parinaamon men kuchh antar rah jaae।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Voice: Active
चुनाव आयोग ने बताया कि विजेता और उपविजेता के बीच वोटों का अंतर बहुत कम था। The election commission reported that the vote margin between the winner and the runner-up was very small.
(chunaav aayog ne bataayaa ki vijetaa aur upvijetaa ke biich voton kaa antar bahut kam thaa।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
दो कार्यक्रमों के बीच इतना कम अंतर रखना ठीक नहीं होगा। It won't be right to keep such a small gap between the two programs.
(do kaaryakrmon ke biich itnaa kam antar rakhnaa thiik nahiin hogaa।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Active
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct): अंतर (antar)
(sg.m.oblique): अंतर (antar)
(pl.m.direct): अंतर (antar)
(pl.m.oblique): अंतरों (antron)